WELCOME to
find the love withinWelcome! I am honored to have you visit!
Using The Work of Byron Katie, I have uncovered within me a deep well of love.
My understanding is that this is available to and the true nature of everyone.
I am so glad that you are here and that I have an opportunity to share The Work of Byron Katie with you.
The Work has changed my life and increased my happiness. It is my hope that The Work will empower you to allow change in yours.
The Work is a simple (not necessarily easy) way to question stressful thoughts. After doing The Work I find that those same thoughts have less power over me.
MY STORY
I am the second of four children in my family. We lived in upstate New York and as a result of a vacation to the west coast ended up moving to Washington state when I was 16. As a youngster I took on the beliefs that I was too fat, hated by one who I thought I should be close to, that I shouldn’t complain or disagree, (I took it to the extreme that I should not speak up) and lived believing that I was not good enough- physically, mentally, emotionally.
Lucky for me I was assigned the cello, although the violin was my instrument of choice. With it I was given a way of speaking that was safe and appreciated. I could scream , yell, cry or laugh with the voice of my cello. It is still my friend and has supported me as a profession.
Fast forward to 2010, I am living and working on a farm as well as cello teaching and performing. My farm work involved working on machinery, milking, making cheese, butter, yogurt, raising chickens for eggs and meat and maintaining the house garden of vegetables. We really needed more workers and wanted to work with colleagues, who also were interested in being a part of the farm, not employees where we were the bosses. A woman from the east came to our attention and she decided that our farm was the place for her. Her skills were remarkable and it seemed like it would be a good fit.
Once she had arrived everything felt wrong. It became too much for me. I believed that I was being pushed out and away. I tried therapy. I needed direction. My therapist showed me that I was living in the extremes. Things felt black and white – no grays, no lightness. How could I move through this? I was lost and stuck. I started taking long drives, finding moving water, visiting a friends grave. I could find no peace. Until…
When visiting a friend’s farm, a book was presented to me. That book was Loving What Is by Byron Katie. That book gave me the ‘How’ that I was searching for. After reading it I felt as if I had come home. I contacted a Certified Facilitator and was blessed with my first supported session. It was a rich gift. And the beginning of a wonderful path. The Work has been a practice for years now. I have become a Certified Facilitator and hope to return the gift of sharing The Work to as many people who would like it.
We think of peace as the absence of war, that if the powerful countries would reduce their weapons arsenals, we could have peace. But if we look deeply into the weapons we see our own minds–our prejudices, fears and ignorance.
Thich Nhat Hanh
So, what is The Work of Byron Katie?
It is simply a method of questioning ones stressful thoughts.
With a blank Judge Your Neighbor Worksheet in hand, we begin. Sit quietly, remember a time that someone (not yourself) made you angry, disappointed or frustrated. Get clear where you are, the time of day, and who or what is making you angry. Next finish the sentence I am angry(or other emotion) at ________ because ________________ . This sentence becomes the first on the Judge Your Neighbor Worksheet (JYN). Referring to this statement the rest of the worksheet is filled in, from stillness.
Staying in meditation, to each of these thoughts we apply the four questions:
1. Is it true? (yes or no)
2. Can you absolutely know that it is true? (y/n)
3. How do you react when you believe the thought?
4. Who would you be without the thought?
Then we turn the thought around.
If my thought is ‘She is trying to push me out.’
I would turn it to myself: ‘I am trying to push me out.’
Then to the other (her): ‘I am trying to push her out’. Then to the opposite: ‘She is not trying to push me out.’
For each of these I would try to find three examples of how this is or might be true.
Please visit Katie’s website thework.com. Everything that you to do the Work is there.
Do the Work with me.
Please email me at nancy@findthelovewithin.com to schedule an appointment or ask a question. If you are more comfortable, please call or text:
541-760-2405.
It is important to me that my rates be affordable. I offer a sliding scale from $50.00-$100.00/session. A session runs from an hour to an hour and a half. If you need more help please let me know.
My coming to the Work took more than a decade. I was a skeptic. Eventually, I began to play with it on my own and experienced some shifts. When I began to work with Nancy, I experienced the Work in a way that was much richer than I had ever imagined. What I noticed at first was how much space she created to go slowly. While following the protocol, she also seemed to tailor each session to my need at the time. With this spaciousness and her guiding questions, I was led past my mind’s very quick answers and old strategies. Several times I was absolutely sure of my beliefs truth and was quite unwilling to let go; with only my pain and my confidence in Nancy to motivate me into inquiry. Each session, her wisdom and gentleness, has me arriving on the other side more in tune with my deepest self.
Nancy is clearly a lover of ‘the Work’. Her knowledge of the work and her commitment to her own growth through inquiry is obvious. Her exquisite skill blended with deep caring, courage to be with others in their pain, and authenticity, is a great gift in my life.
Contact me:
facebook: Nancy Sowdon
Skype: Nancy Sowdon
Phone :541-760-2405
Nancy Sowdon
Sessions, Classes and Events:
Call for an individual session:
541-760-2405.
Introductory classes- as requested
Ongoing biweekly group in Corvallis, contact me if you are interested. You are welcome to join us. On hold until fall 2023.
Camp for the Work, at Millersylvania State Park, Washington- – August 24-27, 2023. Please come and join us!